As probably an attempt to quell fears related to last week’s reports of Google’s self-driving Lexus vehicles being involved in up to 11 accidents in the past year alone, Google is expected to start testing its self-driving cars on public roads for the first time ever.
The cars will be tested near its Mountain View, California headquarters and will be equipped with all the safety equipment deemed mandatory for vehicles as per California law, including a steering wheel and brakes. All this equipment is removable however, allowing the driver to take control of the car whenever needed.
25 prototypes are expected to hit the roads this summer and they will use the same software that is currently being used by Google’s Lexus RX450H self-driving SUVs. The speed of the cars is limited to just 25 mph (40.2 km/h) so as to reduce the risk of any possible accidents.
Other aspects of the cars, the engineers plan to test, are new passenger and pedestrian technologies such as a foam front end and a flexible windshield.